running

Running landscape undergoing dramatic transformation

A recreational runner known as Chris "Jesus" Davis stood out four years ago when the first wave of Bolder Boulder participants hit the streets. (Denver Post file)

BOULDER — This year's Bolder Boulder has attracted some of America's most accomplished professional runners, including American record holders and Olympic medalists.

But how many of the 47,000 recreational runners who will gather Monday for the 36th running of Colorado's premier road race know Shalane Flanagan or Deena Kastor or Ryan Hall? Probably not many, which is why race directors across the country are questioning whether the presence of elite runners does much to drive registration numbers for huge races such as the Bolder Boulder.

"Today, I don't even think people know that side of the sport," said Bolder Boulder race director Cliff Bosley. "That's not good or bad, it's just the landscape. So the question we've been asking is: Is what we're doing still important? Our emphasis on the professional athlete, and on the sport, are we even having an impact?"

While those questions are being asked, a whole new genre of events is transforming the landscape of American running. So-called "themed races" are essentially social, noncompetitive "fun" runs involving paint spatters, mud, costumes, obstacles and even electric shocks.

In 2013, themed races attracted an estimated 4 million entrants, according to Running USA, as compared with 2.5 million finishers in marathons and half marathons.

"When the whole running boom started, everybody was trying to run as fast as they could. It wasn't a social event," said Brendan Reilly, a Boulder-based agent who represents about 15 pro runners. "Now the races are billed, 'Come to our race and you can hear a band every mile.' 'Come to our race and somebody will throw color all over you.' 'Come to our race and you can get your butt electrocuted as you crawl through mud.' "

Advertisement

Bosley doesn't see the trend as a threat. He hopes it turns social runners into competitive racers.

"They're great," Bosley said. "They're good news for everybody in the sport, whether you're a manufacturer of shoes, you own a running store (or) you put on events. They've introduced people who otherwise wouldn't come out and run."

Shalane Flanagan celebrates after winning a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Flanagan, who holds four American records, as well as Deena Kastor, a bronze medalist in the marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and Ryan Hall, a two-time Olympian who has run the fastest marathon by an American-born runner, will compete Monday in the Bolder Boulder. But race director Cliff Bosley asks: "Our emphasis on the professional athlete, and on the sport, are we even having an impact?" (Getty Images file)

But they are a major departure from the influences that shaped the first American running boom in the late 1970s. Most runners of that generation thought of themselves as racers. Part of the attraction of the sport was getting to run in the same event as their role models. Most golfers never get a chance to tee it up with Jack Nicklaus or play tennis with John McEnroe, but you could run in the same race with Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers.

That's still important for many in a town such as Boulder, which has long been a haven for elite American runners and ultra competitive recreational runners. But Sports Illustrated doesn't put runners on its cover the way it did during the first running boom — even though there are more runners now than ever.

"There's two very distinct parts of our sport now," said Boulder's Mark Plaatjes, the 1993 world champion in the marathon. "There's the part of the sport with the Color Run and the Hot Chocolate Run and Tough Mudder for people that are not really interesting in competing. They just want to participate; they want to have fun.

"Then you have the ever- decreasing segment of running that is highly competitive. That has decreased a ton."

Elite runners helped make the Bolder Boulder the third-largest road race in America, with the largest nonmarathon prize purse. It started in 1979 when Ric Rojas beat Shorter, a two-time Olympic marathon medalist, in the inaugural race.

Christina Echeman laughs as she talks with her race team during the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Denver last September. About 30,000 people participated in the popular road race in 2013. (Seth McConnell, The Denver Post)

"We think it's part of our history, and I suppose in 1979 if you didn't have pro athletes who were part of your race, you didn't have a race," Bosley said. "The pro athletes helped to legitimize and give credibility to the Bolder Boulder."

But what is more attractive to runners today, the presence of elite runners or live music every mile? Is it more fun to set a personal record or get splashed with paint?

"I am very worried about the sport," Plaatjes said. "Participation is at an all-time high, the activity of running is very healthy. The competitive side is very sick."

The Bolder Boulder spent $218,500 last year on prize money, meals, transportation and accommodations for a field of four dozen pro runners. This year, Bosley has been able to attract Flanagan, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and holds four American records, as well as Kastor, a bronze medalist in the marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and Hall, a two-time Olympian who has run the fastest marathon by an American-born runner.

For the elite runners, if there is less prize money to chase, it leaves Olympic hopefuls in a tough spot, and it could be more difficult for the U.S. to be competitive at the Olympics. Only a handful of runners make a good living off endorsements.

"The Bolder Boulder has been a world stage for Olympians," Bosley said. "I think people take the Bolder Boulder seriously because we've had the reputation of being about professional athletes, wanting the best in the country and the best in the world to come and race here. If we were to give it up, it just feels like the world would be emptier. That's the hard part for us. Where do they go, if they don't come here?

"If we don't have heroes, professional athletes connected to our sport, do we really have a sport?"

The Bolder Boulder began in 1979 with 2,200 participants. The 10K race now draws nearly 50,000.

Want to run in the 36th Bolder Boulder?

Online registration is closed, but you can register Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the SportsExhibit on the Pearl Street Mall. And race-day registration is available on the southeast corner of Walnut and 30th streets from 5:45 a.m. until 9 a.m. Monday.

Elite prizes

The winning three-person men's and women's team split $15,000, and the individual men's and women's elite champions win $3,000.

Katie Burke manages to smile after falling into the mud below the "electroshock therapy" obstacle during the Tough Mudder 10K at Beaver Creek Resort in 2012. The race attracted more than 13,000 participants that year. (Andy Cross, Denver Post file)

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story